The Red Room Murders
by Tobina
Summary: "So, you don't think they actually committed suicide out of their own will?" "Na, don't think so. I mean – two cases where tha victims sliced themselves up ta paint tha walls with their own blood?" Shinichi gaped. "Say what?" Two victims and just an urban legend that connects them. Can it really be true? Heiji calls his eastern counterpart to solve the mystery of the 'Red Room'.
1. One

**A.N:** And here is a new story for you. This time, I tried for a usual case, but with the typical touch of strange that often goes with the Shinichi/Heiji team. I hope you enjoy!

Very loosely set in the 'Scars-Series', but can be read without any knowledge of the former stories.

Scars-Series:

Scars  
Guns and Gems  
Predicament  
A detective went into a bank...

Just to get you up to speed if you haven't read any of the other stories: Shinichi got the antidote, the BO and KID's syndicate are gone, Shinichi and Ran are married, as are Heiji and Kazuha. They graduated from college and are now living in their own homes.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

 **Chapter one**  
o-oOo-o  
 _Osaka, Saturday, 7:30 pm_

* * *

The monitor glowed in a deep red, the only light in the small bedroom, giving it an ominous feel. In front of it sat a man. He panted heavily as he stared at the screen with wide eyes. His right hand clenched around the mouse and sweat ran down his neck. Next to his other hand lay a carpet-knife and a paint brush.

He was frightened. Terrified.

Still, he continued to click on the little cross in the upper right corner of the pop-up that was displayed all over his browser window. He couldn't stop.

Just one unfinished sentence was written there.

Black letters on red background.

'Do you like-?'

A child's voice repeated the question over the speakers.

Click.

'Do you like-?'

Click.

He prayed that the creepy voice would stop, hoped the window would just vanish, but it appeared again and again.

The sentence changed.

'Do you like red?'

Click. Click. Click.

Another change.

'Do you like the Red Room?'

Suddenly, a new site opened, also as red as blood.

His left hand reached for the knife without his consent and brought the sharp edge to his throat.

His scream never made it out of his mouth.

o-oOo-o  
 _Tokyo, Sunday, 5:48 pm_

The day had been boring for Shinichi.

He sat at his desk in the small office he had rented for his detective agency. He didn't want to meet with his clients at home anymore. That was their refuge to wind down from exhausting hours at work and to relax, and he didn't want any intruders in this sanctuary.

So, he had opted for this two-room office. It wasn't fancy or anything, but it served his purposes just fine. One room to talk with his clients and a private office in the back besides a kitchenette and a tiny bathroom. More than enough for him, and even though his parents had offered to get him a bigger place, he had declined. Seeing that he was more at crime-scenes than in the office anyway, there was no point in paying an exceedingly high rent.

Right now, he was sorting through some files, organizing data and catching up with paper work in general. Really a down side of self-employment and sometimes the reason he regretted not to have joined the police task force. Sure, there was bureaucracy as well, but at least you didn't have to bother with taxes and insurances and so on.

He sighed and stretched, leaning back in his chair. His thoughts wandered for a while. What should he have for dinner tonight? Ran was out of town for an advanced medical training and he was on his own. While he was perfectly capable of preparing a decent meal, he just didn't feel like cooking, especially because he would have to go shopping beforehand. So, take-away it was. Maybe he should hit the new shop down the road that offered curry. Or would ramen be better?

As always when he thought about the various restaurants in the city, his mind drifted to a certain detective in Osaka, who really much enjoyed trying out new food. Well, Heiji's favorite okonomiyaki shop here in Tokyo was an option too. "Not bad for okonomiyaki that's not from Osaka," Heiji had said after finishing his third plate when Shinichi had visited the shop with him last time his friend had visited.

The ringing of his mobile phone postponed any dinner plans for later.

A glance at the caller-ID let Shinichi's eyebrows rise.

"Are you psychic now, Hattori?" he greeted with a grin.

The short pause on the other end was the equivalent to a baffled blinking, before Heiji's thick kansai-dialect sounded over the line.

"Hah? Psychic? What's up with ya, Kudou?"

Shinichi smiled. Heiji hadn't changed much since their first encounter and he hoped his friend would stay that way. It was always refreshing having him around.

He laughed. "Nothing, nothing, just thinking about when you will visit to tour the restaurants with me again."

"Anytime, pal, but I'm afraid that will have ta wait for a bit as ya'll be tha one visitin' me first."

"Is that so?" Shinichi asked musingly. "Sightseeing or case?"

"Ya know that ya can always get both here in Osaka," Heiji boasted, before his voice became earnest again. "It's a case actually, and a pretty weird one at that."

"Aren't they always weird with you?"

"Oi! That's hardly my fault," Heiji defended himself.

"Oh, really?" Shinichi's tone was teasing. "Then how come that I only encounter spider queens, vampires, Kamaitachi and Nue when you are in the vicinity? I think that is pretty telling."

A snort was his answer, but honestly – many of the cases they had worked together had a touch of supernatural, even though they all had turned out to be hundred percent frauds. Admittedly, Shinichi had encountered some of them even without Heiji around, but he wasn't about to remind him of that.

"Anyway, what is this case about, Hattori?"

"Ever heard of tha urban legend 'Tha Red Room'?"

Shinichi thought about it for a moment. "Isn't that the one where some pop-up window brings the victim to commit suicide?"

"That's tha one," Heiji confirmed. "We've got two victims so far, both male, but we have no idea who tha culprit is or what connects tha victims."

"So, you don't think they actually committed suicide out of their own will?"

"Na, don't think so. I mean – two cases where tha victims sliced themselves up ta paint tha walls with their own blood?"

Shinichi gaped. "Say what?"

o-oOo-o  
 _Osaka, Monday, 9:30 am_

The next day, Shinichi got off the train at Osaka station and searched the crowd for Heiji. He slung his bag over his shoulder and began to walk to an area where less people were standing when someone bumped into him from behind and then rushed past him.

"Thief! Thief!" a female voice screamed.

Shinichi's fingers flew to his wrist, only to discover that he'd forgotten to put on his tranquilizer-gun-watch. He cursed but didn't hesitate, dropped his bag and took after the fleeing culprit. Thanks to the mass of people, he caught up quickly and tackled the man to the ground, pinning him with his own weight. Before he had the chance to secure him in a police-armlock, the taller man threw him off and pulled his fist back for a hard punch at Shinichi's face.

He braced himself, but the hit never reached him. Instead, he heard a grunt and a thump.

"Only ya, Kudou," a familiar voice said.

Looking up, Shinichi was met with Heiji's flashing signature grin. The thief lay crumpled at his feet, obviously unconscious after he had made the acquaintance of Heiji's wooden kendo sword that the young man currently rested on his shoulder. Apparently, he had come straight from morning practice to pick him up.

Shinichi winced in sympathy. A bokken might be a weapon meant for practice, but a strike with it was painful nonetheless. Especially, when exerted by a pro like Heiji, who now held out a hand to him.

He took the offer and was hoisted to his feet again.

"Ya're here for what? A minute? And already ya stumble over a crime," Heiji laughed good-naturedly.

"Look who's talking," Shinichi grumbled, dusting off his pants, when they were interrupted by the owner of the handbag the thief had snatched.

"Oh, thank you so much!" the woman exclaimed with a deep bow and then looked Shinichi over in concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, no, I'm fine, really," he assured her, picked up the handbag that had fallen to the ground during the short struggle and gave it back to her.

"Thank god," she sighed in relief and it was not clear if she meant Shinichi's well-being or the handbag she firmly clutched to her chest. She regained her composure and bowed again.

"I'm so sorry, where are my manners," she apologized and handed a business card to Shinichi, who took it with a bow in turn.

"My name is Arisawa Sanyu, pleased to meet you. It is so good to see that there are people who would help out a stranger."

She looked up again and for a moment, both men were captured by her gentle smile. She really was stunning with her straight, shiny black hair that flowed just over her shoulders and a pair of warm brown eyes. She seemed to be in her mid- or late-twenties, just a bit older than Heiji and Shinichi and had a slender figure, dressed in a flattering green skirt and a black shirt.

Shinichi was the first to shake it off. "Uh, your welcome, I mean – the pleasure is all mine." He slapped himself mentally. _'Get your act together, Kudou. You are married.'_

He cleared his throat and gestured at Heiji, who now bowed as well, still a bit out of it. "This is Hattori and my name is Kudou."

She looked at them musingly, as if she tried to remember where she had heard the names before.

"We're det-„

"I'm visiting Osaka and my friend here will show me around a bit," Shinichi cut into Heiji's explanation. "Who would have thought that we would run into a pick-pocket right away?" he laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

Arisawa laughed with him, while Heiji tried to figure out what was going on, but instead of asking, he waved at the security of the station, so they could take the thief into custody.

"By the way," she reached behind herself and dragged Shinichi's bag into view. "I think this is yours? I was afraid it would get lost in the crowd, so I brought it over."

"Oh, yes, thank you. It would have been bad if I'd lost it."

"Take it as a token of my gratitude," she winked at him. "If I can be of any help, just call me."

After they all had given their statements to the security, they waved Arisawa off, who entered the next train.

"So, care ta enlighten me?" Heiji asked curiously. "Why didn't ya want me ta tell her that we're detectives. And ta only give our last names – just how rude are ya?"

Shinichi gave him Arisawa's business card. "I don't think she would have appreciated it and I didn't want to run after another fugitive to get her statement. And not to boast, but I think giving our full names is just the same as telling her we're detectives."

They had been in the papers often enough that they were known quite well. Maybe she would make the connection later as she seemed to recognize the names.

Heiji's eyes grew wide after reading the neat writing on the card. "A-, an escort?"

"Yeah, and while that in itself is legal, I assume that she also offers some... other services."

"Other serv... Oh,..." Hattori blushed. "Why do ya think that?"

"Well," A bit embarrassed, Shinichi reached into his bag and gave Heiji the small bottle, he had found after she had returned it. "I think her 'gratitude' includes a bit more than just taking care of my luggage."

Hattori read the etiquette and burst out laughing. "Kudou, I am not so sure if Nee-chan will approve of this, but I'll make sure ta ask her."

"Don't you dare!" Shinichi shouted and tried to grab the bottle from Heiji, who playfully danced out of reach.

"Ah, come on, pal! Loosen up! A little aphrodisiac won't hurt ya any."

"Hattori!"

o-oOo-o

The carefree mood vanished as soon as they entered the Osaka Police Department. They were here for a case and hopefully, they could prevent another murder.

Heiji showed Shinichi the way to his office. He had entered the police force after graduating college and had worked his way up pretty fast. Not surprising considering his talent, but he'd had to overcome the obstacle of his parentage. He didn't want to be 'the son of' who just got the job because of his old man. He wanted to be acknowledged for his accomplishments and he had given it his all.

So, he really deserved the nameplate next to the door that read 'Detective Hattori Heiji'. One more year, give or take and he would make Inspector for sure.

He had married Kazuha last year and she had somewhat convinced him that staying with the police was better than opening his own agency.

Not to say that she didn't believe in his abilities as a detective, but she just felt that Heiji needed a stable environment to ground him. He also lacked the discipline for boring office work and Kazuha didn't intend to do it in his stead, as she had chosen to be a teacher at their local pre-school. She really had a knack for small kids.

Heiji gestured for Shinichi to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk that was overflowing with papers and folders. Seemed like Kazuha hadn't been that far off the mark regarding her husband's aversion for paperwork.

He rummaged through the piles until he let out a triumphant snort and pulled out two files. He reached one to Shinichi.

"These are the two victims. Himeragi Toya and Tatsuda Aki," he began to summarize, while Shinichi paged through the reports and pictures.

"Himeragi Toya, 28 years old. Found dead in his apartment a week ago. Was an office clerk in a small IT-company. No criminal record, finished college with average grades, nothin' special about his friends or family either. Well, he didn't have that many friends, but they all agreed that he was a nice, normal guy if maybe a bit asocial."

"Nice, normal, ordinary, quiet…" Shinichi sighed. "How often have we heard this description and the guy in question turned out to be a total nutcase or at least had some heavy issues no one knew about."

Heiji laughed. "Right, would be way easier if they came with a label like 'Caution – mentally instable, do not provoke' or 'Kills ya if ya screw his wife'"

"We would be out of any cases and what would we do then, write tickets for speeding?" Shinichi joked, but sobered quickly. "But seriously, you can never tell how many skeletons one has in his closet just by looking at them."

He flipped a page and frowned. It was a picture of the crime scene. He had seen countless of those by now, but this was – well, disturbing. The victim lay on the ground in a small bedroom, face down in a pool of dark liquid. Cause of death obviously had been a cut throat and he couldn't have lived long after that. Certainly not long enough to splatter the walls with that much blood. Though if it was paint, he could have done it beforehand.

Shinichi looked closer at the red streaks that had darkened to a dull, rusty brown in most places. No, that was blood, alright.

He looked up from the picture. "His own blood?"

"Yeah," Heiji answered uneasily and shifted a bit his chair. "We had it tested ta see if maybe it was from an animal, but it was all his own. A few pages further, ya'll find a picture of a paint-brush and tha carpet-knife we found next ta him."

Shinichi flipped to said page. A blood-crusted paint-brush with broad bristles and an also bloody carpet-knife. No special brand. You could get one of those at any hardware-shop the country.

The next pages contained the medical and toxicological report. Nothing conspicuous.

"So, what makes you think that this wasn't an ordinary, though very bloody murder? And one connected to an urban legend at that"

Heiji rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that our culprit is nothin' supernatural at all. It's not possible ta die because of a stupid pop-up window, even though they are annoyin' as hell."

He gave Shinichi the second file.

"Tatsuda Aki, 46 years old, office worker. Found dead yesterday morning. Similar ta Himeragi, nothin' outstandin' in his life, except for tha gruesome death. Same wound, same paint-brush and knife, same blood-splattered walls. And what also both crime scenes have in common, is tha absolute lack of forced entry or signs of struggle. As if they willingly invited their murderer in and bared their necks for them - or well, themselves. Not a single hint ta a second person was found in tha rooms, but in both tha computer was running and tha screen showed a red browser-window with nothin' written on it."

Silently, Shinichi ran through the facts he knew about the Red Room legend he had read about on the train to Osaka. He could understand why someone would see a connection, but the legend was a bit different.

For one, the victims of the Red Room were strangled to death, not cut with a knife. Also, there was nothing said about a red monitor still running when the victims were found. The original legend went like this:

A student heard about the Red Room from a friend at school and once at home, he began to search the internet for more information. He didn't find anything, but sometime later, a red window popped up with the question 'Do you like-', written in black.

The student was scared and tried to close the window, but it opened again and again. After some clicks, the sentence changed to 'Do you like red?' and then to 'Do you like the Red Room?'

After that, a new window opened, also red with black writing. It was a list of names and the last one was the name of the friend, who had told him about the legend. He was absolutely terrified and didn't notice two hands, reaching for his neck.

The next day, the whole school spoke about two boys, who committed suicide and painted their walls red with their own blood.

It had some parallels to the current case, but it wasn't the same.

Someone clearly _wanted_ them to think of the Red Room, the question was: Why? If they had the ability to come and go without anyone being the wiser, why leave such a messy scene and the red monitor behind? Everything hinted to a serial killer, who made his modus operandi known. And the press for sure would make a big deal out of these murders as soon as they got wind of them being a series.

Why a killer followed the same pattern for every victim had different reasons. Some thought they had to obey an inner voice that told them how to do it – and to do it at all. Others suffered from compulsive acts they couldn't suppress, like collecting something from every victim or stabbing them a certain number of times and the next just wanted to set a statement of revenge. The latter were the ones who murdered blonde women just because the cute blonde cheerleader back in high-school had dumped them.

Every one of them were dangerous and one never knew what would cause the killer to change his pattern.

There were whole sections in the police, who solemnly worked those cases. Experts.

"Hattori, did your leading Inspector already call in a profiler?"

Heiji crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked grumpy. "Of course, he did."

"Then why am I here?" Shinichi asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'll help you as good as I can and I don't have any other cases at the moment, but I'm hardly a pro in that field."

"I know that," Heiji grumbled. "I just – can't really stand tha guy. Ya have ta be a buffer for us – for tha sake of tha case." He looked at the clock on the wall and made a face. "He should be here any second."

Shinichi was baffled. "I have to – what?"

Before Heiji could respond, there was a knock on the door and a man in a dark brown suit entered.

"Hattori-keiji, Kudou-kun," he greeted politely and strode over to the chair next to Shinichi to sit down.

Shinichi gaped at him a bit dumbstruck. _'Oh…'_

"Hakuba, punctual as usual," Heiji said and watched as Hakuba Saguru took a seat in the chair next to Shinichi. He tried to hide his slight annoyance but was sure that he didn't do a very good job with that. No matter how many cases they had worked together (thankfully not _that_ many) he just had a hard time to connect with the man.

After KID's staged death, Hakuba had returned to England to study. When he came back two years ago, he already had been a full-fledged profiler and had joined the team in Osaka that had a vacant post. He was good at what he did, Heiji had to give him that. The affinity for profiling had already shown in his early hunt (obsession) for KID, when he had deduced the thief's identity in no time. He might have lacked the evidence, but he had been right about it nonetheless.

When he had agreed to cover for Kuroba, Heiji had been surprised. It didn't fit the image he'd had about the half-Brit and his opinion of him had changed a bit. He still thought that he was a stick in the mud, and they clashed with each other every now and then because of their different conceptions of how things should be done (effective vs. by the book), but at least he could appreciate the other's skills and his loyalty to his friends.

His superiors had called Hakuba in for the case, despite the knowledge that he would drive Heiji up the walls. Or maybe that's why and they wanted to see how he fared with the situation.

Hakuba would be a great asset for the team, Heiji was aware of that and with Shinichi here to mediate, Heiji's head hopefully would stay clear to solve the case.

He just hoped his friend would agree to help him out.

Seeing Shinichi's expression, he had already grasped the problem at hand and was mildly amused about Heiji's dilemma. As far as Heiji remembered, Shinichi didn't have any problems working with Hakuba, though he wasn't sure if they had met since his return to Japan.

"Hakuba-san, nice to meet you again," Shinichi said with a smile. "I've heard about your latest case – congratulations! Must have been another boost to your outstanding career."

As always absolutely unfazed, Hakuba took the compliment in stride. "Thank you, Kudou-san. I could say the same about you, though I've heard about one or two cases where you've been caught up in trouble." He glanced at Heiji with a mocking glint in his eyes. "I think Hattori-keiji here might be a bad influence for you."

Heiji bristled at so much arrogance, but Shinichi cut in before he could jump at Hakuba's throat.

"Well, Hakuba-san, I think if it hadn't been for the things I've learned from my friends over time, these situations would have ended much worse than they did. So, I'm really thankful to them."

It was the politest 'Can it!' Heiji had ever heard and he had to suppress a satisfied grin. He was sure that Shinichi was on board now, and the aspect of working together with the blond prick seemed a lot brighter.

Hakuba just held Shinichi's calm gaze, obviously realizing that it would be a much better idea to drop the topic. "Indeed," he finally said, turning to Heiji. "As I understood, this case will be important for your evaluation for the post as Inspector, so I think it would be best if we brought results."

Shinichi's eyebrows flew up. That was his first time hearing about that. No wonder that Heiji wanted him here. Any other time, he could have dealt with Hakuba by himself, but here was much more on the line and he couldn't afford that his temper got in the way.

Heiji nodded. "Yeah – I'm workin' this case as Inspector on probation, so you both will be under my direct orders."

 _'That ought to be interesting,'_ Shinichi thought.

"Right." Hakuba pulled out two clear plastic bags with a small piece of paper in each and put them on Heiji's desk, giving the piles on it a snide glance.

"I've brought some evidence from the two crime scenes. The second one just got cleared by forensics," he explained, while Heiji reached for the bags and looked at the content without opening them, then gave them to Shinichi.

It were receipts from a hardware-shop for a paint-brush and a carpet-knife. The same hardware-shop to be exact. He checked the dates and compared them with the data in the files.

"They both bought the same items the day of their death in the same shop?" he wondered.

"And the shop is not even close to their homes or working places," Hakuba added.

Shinichi looked up from the files at Heiji, who wore a predatory grin.

"I think we got our first lead."

* * *

 **TBC**


	2. Two

**Chapter two**  
o-oOo-o

* * *

They had been lucky that they had discovered the second victim before garbage collection took away the receipt that had been in the trash or they wouldn't have been able to make the connection to the one Himeragi had kept stuffed between other receipts in his wallet.

Now, Heiji and Shinichi stood in the office of the store manager, Miyamura Toshiro and two of his employees, explaining why the police were in his shop.

"I'm sorry," Miyamura said. "I can't remember ever seeing these men, but I can tell that they were no regulars here."

"Why are ya so sure about that?" Heiji asked. "Ya'r not workin' at the checkout yarself often, do ya? Maybe ya just missed them?"

"That's true," Miyamura conceded. "But all our regular customers own a discount-card and you could see the position here on the receipt." He tapped on the paper in front of him. They had brought a copy, showing both receipts to find out who had worked on these days.

"Maybe he didn't want a discount-card?" Shinichi pointed out. "Some people dislike such cards, because they don't want that their data gets collected for advertising or statistics."

Miyamura hummed in agreement. "Nonetheless, I'm sure that all our regulars have one, because we've had an incentive not long ago and our cashiers were hell-bent on giving out the cards to everyone. You could win a vacation on a cruise ship for two persons. Got them quite motivated."

"Alright," Heiji sighed and showed the pictures of the victims to the two employees, whose respective ID had been on the receipts. "How about ya? Do ya remember them?"

They both were young, working here part-time to make a little money at the side while they were studying for college. One of them, a thin, pimply guy was rather nervous and his unsteady eyes flickered from Heiji to his boss and to the floor and back to the pictures, before he shook his head.

The other one just gave them a rather bored 'No' and winced when Miyamura hit the back of his head for his disrespectful behavior.

Miyamura promised to give out the order to report immediately if there should be another customer buying the same things and they left the store without learning anything new.

On the street, when they were about to turn around the corner to where they had parked the car, they were held back by a yell from behind.

"Hey - Detective!"

They stopped and turned around to see the nervous young man running up to them.

He panted a bit, obviously not part of the track team back in school and needed a moment to collect himself.

"I-, I'm not sure if it is related to the case and I don't want any problems. Really, I can't afford to get an entry in my police file or get arrested or…" he babbled without inhaling even once and Heiji held up a hand.

"Calm down! One thin' at a time. I'm sure it's not that bad… well, whatever ya did. Ya didn't kill someone, did ya?" he clarified.

"No! Of course not!"

"Right, then please tell us what ya know, err…" he trailed off, noticing that he had forgotten the name of the boy.

"Sakamoto Kenji," the young man answered and hesitantly held out a business card. "You see, there is a class-reunion coming up and no girl wanted to go with me and, well…" he looked to the side, embarrassed, while Heiji read the card.

"Arisawa Sanyu. Escort." He looked at Shinichi with a smirk. "Well, what are the chances?"

Shinichi shot him a sullen glance, for the jab at their previous encounter with Arisawa.

"When- when I went to her to hire her, I bumped into one of the men from the photos. The younger one," Kenji explained.

Heiji put a hand on his chin. "That would be Himeragi." He pulled out the photo again to verify. "This was tha man ya've seen? When?"

Kenji nodded. "Yes, that's him. It was exactly three weeks ago. I remember, because I was so nervous going there, I needed two tries to make it to the door at all."

Heiji could imagine how the awkward young man had needed to gather all his courage to hire a woman to impress his former class-mates. Poor guy.

"Did you notice anything strange?" Shinichi asked.

"Uh…," Kenji looked up in thought, pressing one pointer finger to his lips. "Well, I think they were arguing before I arrived. The atmosphere was kind of tense and we collided because he wasn't paying attention. He didn't even apologize."

That was interesting.

Heiji pulled out a card with his name and number from the inner pocket of his jacket and reached it to Kenji. "Alright, thanks a lot, Sakamoto-san. If ya remember anythin' ya want ta tell us, call me."

The boy took the card and nodded, obviously relieved that the conversation was over.

"And I think ya should cancel yar date with Arisawa-san," Heiji added, amused by Kenji's beet-red face. "I'm sure ya'll find a nice girl at yar campus. And if not – Chin up! Ya don't have ta prove them anythin'."

Kenji just gaped at him for a moment before he stumbled out some thanks and turned to flee back into the hardware-shop.

Shinichi clapped a hand on Heiji's shoulder. "I didn't know that you were capable of giving advise like a dad," he laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, keep laughin'," Heiji grumbled. "I just felt sorry for him."

His friend now smiled placatingly. "I know, don't be mad." He took out his phone and looked at the time. It was already late in the evening. The perfect time to call an escort.

"Do ya want ta call her, Kudou? Seein' as she has taken a likin' ta ya?" Heiji held out the business card and wiggled his eyebrows. For that, he had to evade a swatting hand from Shinichi, who then took the card from Heiji and tried to reach her, but just got the mailbox.

Maybe she was already… err, working. He didn't leave a message. If she really had something to do with the deaths, he didn't want to give her any warning or time to prepare.

"I think we should call it a day then," Shinichi said and yawned. He had been up early to get the first bullet train to Osaka. "We'll drive to the address tomorrow, together with Hakuba-san."

Heiji just rolled his eyes. Joy.

"Stop pouting, Hattori."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

Shinichi sighed. While Hakuba wasn't his favorite partner when working cases, normally he was a decent guy. If he and Heiji just could get over their differences, he was sure they would get along well enough.

"Come on. My stuff is still at the Department and I have to book a room in a hotel," he urged, but Heiji didn't want to hear any of it.

"Hotel? No way – ya're stayin' with us while ya're here. Kazuha will kill me if I let ya sleep in some shady lodgin'."

"Shady lodging? Just what did you think where I wanted to book a room?" Really – after the countless tours with Heiji, Shinichi knew his way around here by now.

Heiji shrugged. "Knowing yar luck, ya'll end up in tha only hotel in Osaka with some murder tonight."

Fair enough.

So, Shinichi complied and followed Heiji to the car.

o-oOo-o  
 _Tuesday, 7:45 am_

Breakfast with the Hattoris was an experience, so to say.

The couple bickered and bantered just like back then when they had been teenagers and had still been in denial about their love for each other.

Shinichi mostly tried to stay off the radar and quietly drank his coffee while watching the show his hosts displayed. The small fight was because of some burnt fish or was it spilled tea – he didn't remember anymore and he doubted any of them did either.

"Heiji! Why don't ya ever listen to anythin' I say?" Kazuha shouted, her hands on her hips and her ponytail that by now lacked the yellow trademark ribbon she had worn as a teenager, bounced behind her. "As soon as there's a case, it's as if I'm just air for ya– and there's _always_ a case!"

"I'm listenin' alright, Aho," Heiji shot right back. "Ya just won't stop talkin' all day and I have ta filter out tha important stuff from all tha jabberin'."

Kazuha looked like she would explode any moment. Wide eyed, red faced and breath held.

The eruption followed suit.

"WHAT?!"

Heiji finally seemed to realize that he overdid it with the teasing and backpaddled quickly. "Ah, no – I didn't mean it in a bad way. I- uh…"

Kazuha heaved out a sigh. He really looked apologetic in his own stupid way and as always, her anger evaporated as fast as it had come. It left behind a bit of disappointment, but she had known what she had signed up for when she'd said 'yes' to him. If she had wanted someone reasonable and empathic, she shouldn't have married this fool of a detective.

She looked over to Shinichi, who silently had watched their outburst but now had politely lowered his gaze into the depths of his coffee cup to give them some sort of privacy.

It was okay. He had seen them going at it for years now, and he was well aware that they didn't mean even half of the stuff they yelled at each other in the heat of the moment.

"Kudou-kun," she got his attention. "I really hope yar not givin' Ran-chan as much grief as this Aho here is givin' me."

He blinked a few times, unsure of what the correct answer was. "Err, no – of course not. I mean – if I can help it… I try?"

"Oi, oi, Kazuha," Heiji frowned. "It's ok if ya harass me, but stop botherin' Kudou, will ya?"

"Yeah, I get it," she said with an annoyed eye-roll and a dismissive wave of her hand. "He's yar best pal and so on and so forth. Really – if he wasn't a guy, ya would've married him instead of me."

Shinichi began to feel uncomfortable. This was a bit more than their usual quips. Ran also had gotten fed up with his antics more than once, and by now he knew the tell-tale signs when a serious conversation was due.

He got up. "Well, – thanks for the breakfast, Kazuha. I'll be going upstairs to get ready to leave for the department. We have to pick up Hakuba-san soon."

Heiji looked after him. "Traitor," he muttered under his breath. "Ya've been ready long before I even got up."

Sighing, he turned to his wife.

He knew he had overstepped some boundaries again. He just couldn't help it. The case wasn't an easy one and on top of that, he felt the pressure of his superiors regarding his promotion. He couldn't afford to screw this up.

Even if Kazuha had a temper, she would understand if he explained properly.

Time to grovel a bit.

o-oOo-o

Heiji still wasn't in the best of moods even if the conversation with Kazuha had ended quite peacefully. That he would have to deal with Hakuba didn't help any, but Arisawa was a suspect and Hakuba needed to talk to her directly to be able to get a good reading of her.

They had filled him in on the way to Arisawa's apartment, and since then he had sat in silence in the back of the car. Heiji wondered if the prospect of meeting an escort was troubling him and his reserved character or if he was already piecing together whatever clues he got from the scarce information they had so far.

So, now they all stood in front of Arisawa's door and waited for her to answer the bell.

A few moments later, she opened for them and her eyes grew wide in surprise when she recognized Shinichi and Heiji.

"Why, hello - welcome," she greeted with a smile and bowed. "I didn't expect to see you two so soon, and with company nonetheless."

The men bowed as well and when Heiji was about to explain why they were here, she waved them in. "We can talk inside. No need to hold a conversation out in the corridor."

They followed her into the small but tidy apartment. The dark furniture weren't new though well-cared for and decorated in a modern style. Red, grey and white were the dominant colors in the room.

"Please, have a seat," Arisawa invited them. "Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?"

"No, thank you," Shinichi declined politely. "We would like to come straight to the reason of our visit."

She raised one delicate eyebrow and sat down herself. "As you wish. I have the feeling that you are not here because of my occupation."

"Not directly, no," Heiji confirmed, taking the lead of the conversation. "Actually," he took out his badge and showed it to her. "We're from tha Osaka Police Department and we would like ta ask ya some questions regardin' an ongoin' murder investigation."

"Police Department? Murder?" she asked astonished and looked over to Shinichi and Hakuba as if she waited for one of them to tell her that it was just a bad joke.

Shinichi nodded. "Yes, please let me introduce us properly this time."

He gestured at the other two. "These are Detective Hattori Heiji and Detective Hakuba Saguru from the Police Department. My name is Kudou Shinichi, I work as a private investigator. Sorry, that we have to bother you, but we have been told that you had contact with one of the victims, so we would like you to give us some information if possible."

She paled a bit. "Well, I knew your names sounded somewhat familiar, but... One - one of the victims? Who? Of how many victims do we speak here?"

"Two so far." Heiji leaned forward. "And we hope ta get tha murderer before there'll be another one." He pulled out Himeragi's photo again that was already a bit worn on the edges from being carried in the Detective's pocket. "Do ya know him?"

She looked at the photo and inhaled deeply. "Yes, I know him. I, he... sorry..." She swallowed hard and bit her lips in distress before she collected herself enough to go on. The men waited patiently.

"He is... was a client. A regular one. We often went out to have dinner in a restaurant or sometimes I accompanied him to an event - nothing special. Just routine work for me. He was nice, well - most of the time."

 _'And here we go,'_ Shinichi thought. _'Seems like we'll get to know Mr. Nice-guy's ugly side now.'_

After another deep breath, she continued. "On your last date, he made unwanted advances at me and when I told him no, he wouldn't listen." She slung her arms around her upper body as if to protect herself from the memories.

Heiji didn't want to ask, but he had to. "Did he-?"

"No!" Arisawa cut in before he could finish the sentence. "No, he didn't. I think he would have, but I was able to stop him. You see - as a female escort you have to know how to defend yourself. I have several weapons hidden here in the apartment and I always carry a small stun-gun with me. It's even registered, so I'm allowed to have it. I also trained some self-defense, but that only gets you so far if your opponent is a much stronger man."

A bitter smile played at Arisawa's lips. "After that, I told him to leave immediately and to never come back. I even refused the last payment. I just wanted him to go away. I don't know what he did after that."

"I'm sorry, but I have ta ask ya. Where have ya been in tha night from Monday to Tuesday last week?"

"I understand," she said quietly. "I've been here the whole night. With a client."

"Can ya give us tha name, so we can verify that?"

"Sorry, no – the names of my clients are confidential. No one would come to me ever again if I talked about such things."

Heiji hummed in thought. "Ya're aware that this decision gives ya a shaky alibi at best?"

She nodded with thin lips, looking down at her hands in her lap.

After a help seeking glance to Shinichi, who just shrugged, Heiji raked a hand through his hair with a sigh. He had hoped to get a bit more, but they couldn't force her to reveal who had accompanied her that night and though she still was a suspect, they didn't have any evidence that would allow them to arrest her. He asked about the second victim and got the same answer for the alibi and she said she didn't even know him.

Very frustrating.

They told her to stay in town, bid their goodbyes and went back to the car to drive back to the department.

Heiji made eye contact over the rearview mirror after they were a few streets away from the apartment. "Ya were awfully quite in there, Hakuba."

"I just tried to pin down her personality, but it was difficult to see behind the façade she has built up for her role as an escort. I think it has become second nature to her. So much that she doesn't even realize she is acting at all. She was forthcoming enough, though."

"What do you think of her story about the last date with Himeragi?"

"It's hard to say for sure, but I don't think she got out as unscathed as she wants us to believe. Her denial was very quick as if she couldn't even stand hearing the word 'rape' and her eyes flickered to the upper right corner for a moment, what could indicate a lie, but that doesn't automatically mean that she didn't tell the truth. It's a widespread notion that you can read your opposites mind if you watch their eye-movements, but depending on upbringing, cultural environment and personal habits, the movements can have other meanings instead of the common ones."

"Okay," Shinichi concluded. "So, she held back something, probably the extant of Himeragi's assault, but most likely because she was too embarrassed to talk about it and just wanted to forget about it. That means we are stuck."

"At least regardin' Arisawa, I'm afraid that's right," Heiji confirmed. "Hakuba, what do you have about the culprit's profile so far?"

"The victims were both male, both a bit withdrawn, what fits Himeragi hiring an escort. I wouldn't be too surprised if Tatsuda did the same at some point, but so far we didn't find any connection in this direction."

"I just don't get how someone would want ta pay for a woman ta play his girlfriend. Is it really so bad not havin' one?" Heiji frowned.

Shinichi gave a short laugh. "Well, not everyone can have a cute childhood-friend to rely on, Hattori. And those men are socially awkward. They would never manage to talk to a woman they meet at a party – mostly because they wouldn't go to a party to begin with."

"That's correct," Hakuba stated. "For them it is an opportunity to get in contact with the other gender without risking rejection. They also both were very active on the internet. Another save base for communication, even with the advantage of anonymity. Oh, by the way – our IT finished the inspection of the victims computers. The red browser-window was the result of a small website that does nothing else than send a pop-up that askes the questions just like in the urban legend and in the end shows the red screen."

"That is all?" Heiji asked disappointed. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but at least a bit, well – more. "Were they able to trace back the IP address?"

"Yes, but unfortunately the website was built with a common online provider and everything just led back to an internet café in Shibuya."

"Damn!"

Again a dead end. Why would someone build a site like this and why would the victims visit it just before their deaths? It didn't make sense.

"At least we can assume that the website indeed was built by our culprit, because there was no other traffic on the site. Actually, it is almost impossible to find the site if you don't know the address. In short that means that our culprit knows at least the basics about IT and for some reason made his victim look at this site right before murdering them. Also, I think that we are searching for someone small or at least with not too much strength – I would even say a female," Hakuba stated.

That surprised Heiji. "Why do ya think that?"

"Well, male culprits who kill other men tend to be more brutal. Here we have a clean, deep cut, what doesn't require much strength and no signs of fighting. And if forensics are right, the victims both cut their throats themselves so that the culprit didn't even have to touch them. Men like to show off, to be superior. There should have been struggling, bruises."

"And the mess they made? All the blood on the walls…" Shinichi shuddered a bit at the thought of how the culprit must have taken the paint-brush, dunked it in the growing puddle of blood and splattered it all over the walls repeatedly.

"It indicates a strong longing for vengeance – also a very female trait."

"Okay – so ya're tryin' ta tell me that a woman went there, made them look at the website and somehow the victims then committed suicide for whatever reason and then she began to give tha walls a new paintjob?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Maybe she had something to hold over their heads," Shinichi mused. "Some kind of dirt they didn't want to be made known."

"Like how they paid for company and maybe even… more?" This case made Heiji feel really uncomfortable. Not that he felt good with other cases, but so far he didn't have any concerning escorts of well – prostitutes.

"But if someone told ya ta kill yarself or he would spill yar secrets, would ya do it? What's tha meanin' in keeping yar secret when ya're dead instead? Unless ya try ta protect someone else."

"Right," Shinichi sighed. "And there are no wives or kids, who would be the first to protect. Maybe we should speak with the colleagues for a second time and see if there really wasn't something wrong at work."

* * *

 **TBC**


	3. Three

**Chapter three**  
o-oOo-o  
 _Wednesday, 16:29 pm_

* * *

Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

No fraud, no missing money, no nothing.

The last two days, there had been absolutely nothing new and the investigation didn't make any progress. They all were tense - waiting for the other shoe to drop since they were sure that hadn't been the end of it.

They had called Arisawa Sanyu to the Department, because she was the only suspect so far and had convinced her to tell them her clients names. The prospect of a night or two in jail had been enough, but both men had backed up her statement.

When the report came in that there was another victim, they finally had a new lead, even though they wished it would have been different.

It was the first time all three of them were together at a crime scene of this case and they all could have done without it.

Saitama Chuuya, 28 and a successful psychiatrist, lay motionless and with empty eyes in his own blood, a gaping cut across his jugular.

The computer screen and the walls were red and the stinging smell of copper hung in the air.

Carpet-knife, paint-brush – all the same.

"Dang it!" Heiji shoved his fists into the pockets of his jacket to avoid punching anything in frustration.

Saitama had absolutely nothing in common with the other victims. Not even a receipt for the hardware-shop was found. They called the shop nonetheless, but no one had seen Saitama there in the last few days.

Back at the department, Hakuba went to add the new information to his data and Heiji slumped at his desk.

Shinichi looked at him in worry. His friend hadn't slept well the last few nights. He knew that because his room was next to Heiji's office in the house and he had heard him pacing until Kazuha eventually had called him back to bed.

He looked drawn and though Shinichi felt the strain as well, the pressure was much higher for Heiji. This case was his chance to prove himself. Shinichi just hoped he wouldn't end up doing anything reckless to get results. It wouldn't look good if he lost his composure and/or prudence.

Heiji's mobile phone rang.

"Yes, hello, Hattori speaking."

"Um, hello, my name is Koda Arata, I'm working at the hardware-shop. You've talked to Miyamura-san about a person who bought some specific items and I just got back from Hokkaido this morning. I'm so sorry..."

The caller was really upset and Heiji needed a moment to follow the man's rapidly spoken words until he understood what he was telling him. Instantly he was on alert.

"Ya've seen someone buy tha stuff? When? Who?"

"It was yesterday. I- I got a call at work from my family in Hokkaido because my father died. It was very sudden and I was so shaken, I didn't think clearly. I-, Miyamura-san told me about the dead guy you've found. I think it was him."

Saitama Chuuya. Someone really had seen him and it was just hard luck that they hadn't heard about it sooner.

Heiji's fist hit his desk after he had ended the call. "Damn! Maybe we could have saved him! Maybe-"

"And maybe not, Hattori," Shinichi cut in. It was useless to fret over something that was already in the past. "Even if we had known that he had been there, we still wouldn't have had his name or contacts. Who knows if we would have found him in time. Don't beat yourself up about it. Do something so it won't happen again."

Heiji dragged his hands over his face in a tired manner. "Ya're right, I know. Just one moment."

He called two of his officers and instructed them to observe the hardware-shop in turns and to report immediately if they saw something suspicious. He should have done that from the start. This case wasn't looking good. If things didn't change in their favor soon, they likely would have a fourth victim.

He would prevent that! He had to!

"Okay – what do we have about Saitama?"

Shinichi opened the file in his lap, skipped over the photos from the crime-scene and stopped at Saitama's résumé.

"Before he worked as a psychiatrist, he studied psychology here in Tokyo at the Toudai. Impressive grades and several recommendations from his former professors. No wonder his business flourished. He is backed up by some important names in the branch."

He took out the day planner they had found in the drawer of Saitama's desk and looked at the last entries.

"The last meetings before his death were with a Kimura Ren and someone called Endo Isamu." He browsed through the pages before. "On some days there are small markings, look-"

Shinichi turned the planner around and pointed at a small marking in the corner of the day's page.

Heiji squinted. "They look like little flowers, I think."

Shinichi took the planner back. "Think so too, but there is no explanation as to what they mean. Also, they stop around three weeks before today."

Heiji searched through the box with things they took from the crime-scene and fished out a plastic bag containing Saitama's mobile phone with a list attached to it. Forensics and IT already had a look at it and because it had still been powered when they found it, they had been able to extract the contacts fairly quick.

His eyes flew over the lines of names until he finally found what he was searching for.

"Seems like we're lucky. We've got a phone number for both names. Let's call them and find out what their connection ta our victim was."

First, they called Kimura Ren, who turned out to be one of Saitama's professors from Tokyo University.

"Saitama Chuuya, you say?" Kimura's voice sounded over the speaker system so Shinichi could hear him as well. "Yes, I met with him last week about an article he intended to publish. He wanted my opinion on it, but why is the police interested in him? Is he in trouble?"

Heiji hated this part of his work. Telling someone that a person they had known, in the worst case even loved was dead, was an unrewarding task.

"I'm really sorry, but I have ta tell ya that Saitama-san is dead. We are currently investigatin' his murder."

A shocked intake of air, then silence for a moment. "He is dead? Murdered? But - why? Who would do that?"

"That's exactly what we're tryin' ta find out. Can ya think of anyone who had somethin' against him?"

"Hmm... well, no. I don't think he had any enemies. He was a bright student with many friends. Never missed a class, always had the assignments done. We were all expecting a lot from him for the future. The work for his article was amazing - I'm sure it would have made him even more successful."

A model student. Heiji sighed. Why would someone kill a guy like him? Maybe work related? "Did he have any rivals among his colleagues? Any discords?"

Again, Kimura thought about the question for a moment, before he told them that he couldn't think about anyone who held a grudge against him. He promised he would call them if he would remember something else and they ended the call.

Knowing not much more than before, they hoped the second call would bring them a lead.

After introductions and explanations as to why they called were said and done, Endo Isamu, who was a friend from college and had studied with him, became rather talkative.

"No way! He's dead? That's- that's... I can't believe it! We've just talked on the phone some days ago and everything was well. He was a great pal and now you're telling me he's dead? He even gave me advice for my love life. Without him I still would be a virgin."

A bit overwhelmed from the sudden flood of words and a lot more private information than he would have cared for, Heiji looked to Shinichi who just seemed as at a loss as Heiji himself.

"Yeah... right... So ya two were close?"

"Best friends since college, man - best friends. I mean - who else would help you getting laid and even shares the woman with you?"

"Sh- shares?" Heiji's and Shinichi's eyes grew wide. They were best friends in every way one could think of, but that was taking it too far by miles.

"Yeah - even though he told me in our last phone call that I should go find another one, because this chick had some screws loose. No wonder if you ask me. They say they're professionals, but who in their right mind would actually do a job like this willingly?"

"Wait, wait, wait - professionals?"

"Escorts! I'm talking about ladies who spend the evening with you and sometimes they even do more if you... uh..." he suddenly stuttered, seemingly remembering to whom he was talking to. "Err... I don't think I should have said that, should I?"

Suddenly all ears, Heiji assured him. "No, no - it's alright. Tell me about this escort, Saitama-san didn't want ya ta go ta again."

Endo still hesitated. "Really? Won't I get in trouble if I admit that I... well you know..."

Heiji rolled his eyes. He honestly didn't care about that right now, even though he made a mental note to take care of that matter later. He wanted answers. "It's okay, please tell me about her."

"If you say so... Her name is Haruki Sakura and Chuuya introduced me to her a while ago. She is really pretty and I went out with her a few times."

"Haruki Sakura," Heiji repeated and Shinichi wrote the name down. Haru – spring and Sakura - cherry blossoms. That were the small flowers in the planner. The days he had met with Haruki.

"Clearly a pseudonym," Shinichi whispered, "Or her parents really loved springtime."

"What happened then," Heiji wanted to know. "Why did Saitama-san tell you not to meet her again?"

"It was a bit strange. He always was very fond of her, otherwise he wouldn't have recommended her, but suddenly he didn't want to see her anymore. He said she was nuts and that she was head over heels for him, even talked about marriage. Chuuya said that she showed signs of a mental disorder and that he advised her to search help. Needless to say that she wasn't thrilled and threw a cup at him. Crazy chick."

Shinichi and Heiji exchanged another glance. That sounded as if Haruki had a motive to harm Saitama and that she was violent to some extent.

"Please, give us her address."

o-oOo-o

Two hours later, Heiji, Shinichi and Hakuba sat on an elegant couch in an equally elegant room in Haruki Sakura's living room. Very different from Arisawa's place, it was rather spacious.

"Thanks for lettin' us in unannounced, Haruki-san," Heiji began. "As I've already told ya, we're investigatin' tha death of three men."

Haruki sat in an armchair opposite from them. With an unconscious gesture, she stroke back a few strands of her rose-gold colored hair that had escaped from her loose updo. It was obviously dyed to match her name and it complimented her pale green eyes. She was pretty in a fragile, fairly-like way.

She reached for one of the four delicate, flower painted china bone tea cups on the low table she had set out for all of them. Heiji briefly wondered if she threw one of those at Saitama.

"I'm glad to help you out in any way I can," she assured them. Her voice was quiet but melodic and fit her overall appearance.

Heiji nodded his thanks and reached her a picture of Himeragi. "Do ya know this man?"

Haruki inhaled and stiffened a bit. "Yes, I do." She put the cup back on the table and smoothed out some wrinkles in her dress. "He came here a few weeks ago and wanted to hire me. Sorry, but I can't remember his name."

"Not a problem, we know his name already. Himeragi Toya," Shinichi told her. "So, he wasn't a regular client?"

"Ah, no – he came to me for the first time, but I refused him. He was quite mad when he left."

Shinichi looked at her questioningly. "Why did you refuse him?"

Haruki looked uncomfortable. "He said that he normally went to another escort who didn't have time for him, so he came to me. We have an agreement among each other not to steal away clients. We will first obtain the agreement from the former escort - this business is hard enough as it is. He didn't want to tell me her name or to call her and ran out."

"Alright, then what about this man?"

She looked at the photo of Tatsuda Aki and shook her head. "No, sorry. I don't know this one."

Heiji placed the last photo, that of Saitama Chuuya, on the table. "And him?"

She stared at the picture. Her already fair skin took on an ashen tone.

Her eyes went wide over her hand that now covered her mouth and she took in a shuddering breath.

"No-...Chuuya."

Hakuba watched her intently. Her surprise and allover reaction seemed genuine, but if what Endo had told them was true and she was mentally instable, it still could be faked.

"Chuuya!"

All three men were startled by her sudden outburst, as she slid down the couch and fell on her knees - weeping. "No! Why him? Why my Chuuya?"

A bit helpless in this situation, they gave her time to come to terms with the news. There wasn't much they could do for her now, they still needed to question her.

Her crying changed into small hiccups and sobs. "Who?... I mean... why?"

Hakuba leaned a bit forward and shook his head. "We still don't know. That's why we have to ask you some questions. Do you think you can manage?"

Her lips trembled and a tear ran down her cheek, but she wiped it away and fought to calm herself down. "Yes,... I think... okay."

"Alright, we'll try to make this as short as possible." In silent agreement, Hakuba had taken the lead. He knew the most about psychology and how to handle instable persons. And to be honest - Heiji wasn't known for his subtle interrogation techniques.

"So, what was your relationship to Saitama-san?"

"He was a client, I saw him quite often. We- I-... He soon was more for me." She looked to the side and absentmindedly rubbed her left arm.

"Did he feel the same way about you?"

Her hand stilled and gripped her upper arm harder, almost bruising herself. "No- he didn't."

"But he still came here to see you?"

"He stopped coming after I told him about my feelings. He said they weren't genuine and that I just imagined to love him, that I was delusional." She got angrier with every second until she spat out the last words. "He left me! Just like that! I hated him!"

The sudden change in personality was worrying. Maybe Saitama had been right. The question now was if she was capable to kill someone and what her motive for the other two could have been. Maybe Saitama hadn't been the first client she fell in love with and who rejected her.

Hakuba proceeded to ask her about her alibi, when Heiji's phone rang. He looked at the caller-ID and recognized it as one of the officers, he had stationed at the hardware-shop.

He took the call after going to a corner of the room where he wouldn't disturb the questioning.

"Keiji, Officer Makino speaking. We have a customer here, Endo Isamu, who bought a carpet-knife and a paint-brush, just as you said. What shall we do with him?"

Adrenalin rushed through Heiji's veins. _'Endo Isamu...'_

"Keep him there! Don't leave him alone - not even for a second! We'll be right there!"

He forcefully shoved his phone back into his jacket and turned to the others who had stopped talking when they heard his commands, Hakuba and Shinichi already at their feet.

"We got a lead," he informed them. "Hakuba - stay here and have an eye on Haruki-san. Kudou - we'll drive ta tha hardware-shop, Endo Isamu showed up there."

They were almost at the car when again, Heiji's phone rang.

"Hattori," he answered brusquely. One hand on the passenger door, he threw his keys to Shinichi, so he could drive while Heiji talked on the phone.

"Ah, hello, Keiji. Good that I've reached you. Here is Professor Kimura."

Right - the professor from Saitama's college.

"What is it, Kimura-sensei? I'm sorry - I'm kind of busy right now."

What Kimura said next made him stop dead in his tracks. Hastily, he put the phone away and leaned into the car.

"Kudou - drive alone, I'll catch up with ya."

"Hattori, what-" Before Shinichi could even finish the sentence, Heiji already had shut the door and sprinted over the street to a man who was about to start his motorbike.

He brandished his badge to the bewildered driver. "Police, I need to lend your bike!"

o-oOo-o

Shinichi was still confused as he drove to the hardware-shop alone. He only knew that the one Heiji had talked to had been Kimura-sensei, but what had he told him that he took off like that?

"Dammit, Hattori! Take the time to tell me what's going on at least!"

Frustrated, he hit the brakes a bit more forcefully than was necessary and came to a sudden stop in front of the shop.

He locked the car and went inside. It was already late and the last customers were about to leave. When he entered the brightly lit selling space, Miyamura waved him over to the office he knew already from their first visit here.

"Kudou-san, I'm glad you came so fast." He looked past Shinichi with a searching glance. "Where is Hattori-keiji?"

"He'll be here a bit later, don't worry. Where is Endo-san?"

"Yes, right - this way please," he gestured into his office. "Officer Makino stayed with him the whole time, just as Hattori-keiji ordered. And that was a good thing. He seems to be really nervous - wants to go home very badly."

Well, Shinichi could understand that most people weren't too pleased when they were held back by the police, but under the current circumstances, Endo should be grateful for the protection and not trying to get away, right? What was going on?

When they entered the room, Endo was indeed trying to persuade Makino to let him go.

"Please, officer! I really have to go now. I didn't do anything wrong, so you can't keep me here!"

Makino held up his hands in a placating manner. "That's true, Endo-san, but did you understand what I told you? You are probably being targeted by a killer - we can't let you go home just like that."

"Aargh!" Endo grabbed his hair and bent forward. "You don't understand! I _have_ to go!"

"Says who?" Shinichi asked calmly and both men turned to him.

Endo's eyes were wide and unsteady, almost haunted.

"The voice."

Shinichi frowned. Was Endo hearing things? They would need a shrink if that was the case. He took out his phone when he heard that a new message had arrived.

 _'Hopefully from Hattori, I really want to know what-'_

He stared at the screen. The message was in fact from Heiji, but he hadn't expected what it said.

"Officer Makino - bring Endo-san to the department. Make sure he is never alone and get him some psychological help."

Without waiting for an answer, he was already out of the door and on the way to the car, calling Hakuba.

After just one ring, the other was on the line. "Kudou-san?"

"We got it wrong. It's not Haruki. It's Arisawa."

* * *

 **TBC**


	4. Four

**Chapter four**  
o-oOo-o

* * *

Again, Heiji sat on the dark couch in Arisawa's living room.

When he had knocked on her door, she had let him in, though a bit confused. He had told her that he had a few more questions about the murders and she had served him a cup of coffee while they spoke.

After the conversation with Kimura, Heiji had been almost sure that Arisawa was the culprit, but now, after seeing her and talking to her, he was absolutely convinced. That's why he already had sent a text message to Shinichi to come over here as soon as possible. With backup.

He had a very good idea as to how she murdered her victims. The website was an important part of her plan, he knew that, but he needed proof - he needed her to confess.

"Ya're glancin' at tha clock an awful lot, Arisawa-san. Do ya have another appointment tonight?" Heiji asked with a smirk.

She had to expect her victim to open the website at any moment now. If she planned to go there to paint the walls with his blood, she would have to go soon or the blood would congeal.

"No no, I'm sorry." Her short laugh sounded a bit nervous though she hid it very good. Had Heiji not known for sure that she was stressed, he might have missed it.

"That was very impolite, I have to apologize," she said and stood up. With a suggestive expression, she slowly walked over to Heiji. "Let me make it up to you."

 _'Getting' desperate, aren't we? Trying ta hit on a police officer,'_ he thought as he watched her seductive body language as she placed herself on the armrest of the couch he was sitting on. Her fingers wandered up his thigh and were headed to its inner site.

"Relax and let me make you feel good, Detective," she purred into his ear. Her warm breath tickled him, invited him to just let go. "That's why you're really here right? To flee from your every-day life, from all the pressure."

He relaxed his body, leaned back into the cushions and closed his eyes.

"I've met just few men like you. You are so dedicated to your work, always neglecting yourself. You deserve to unwind a bit, don't you think? Be at ease – I know exactly what you need. Keep your eyes closed and when I've counted to ten, all your troubles will be far far away."

He caught her hand just before she would reach his more private regions.

"Alright, that's as far as ya'll go."

Twisting her wrist, he forced her on her back and pinned both of her hands above her head.

"You faked it?", she emitted unbelievingly, struggling to free her arms from his firm grip.

Heiji grinned. "Of course. As soon as I suspected ya ta be tha killer, I remembered tha little bottle ya gave ta Kudou back then on tha train station. Drugs under the guise of an aphrodisiac were a sly idea. Tha receivin' person would take it willingly and they would expect ta feel different after drinkin' it. They wouldn't suspect they had been drugged with somethin' much more potent. Ya knew I wouldn't drink that stuff, so ya spiked my coffee, didn't ya? I really can't afford ta be high right now, so I spit it out."

It was true. He didn't drink his coffee. As soon as she had left for a moment to get something from the kitchen, he had spit out the mouthful he had already taken back into the cup and had poured everything into the next potted plant.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to rinse his mouth afterwards and so he'd still ingested some of the drug and it made him feel a bit light-headed. He just had to hide it behind self-confidence. Thank god, he'd never been short on that.

"Tha first two men were yar regular clients, weren't they? So, ya had vast opportunities ta manipulate them - ta kill them after they tried ta hurt ya. And that was why they had to die, right? Ya've told us that Himeragi-san made unwanted advances at ya and that ya showed him tha door therefore. Did Tatsuda-san do tha same? Was that tha reason ya killed them?"

She huffed. "I didn't lay a finger on these men and I have alibis, you know that."

"No, ya didn't touch them," Heiji confirmed. "Ya didn't need ta. All ya had ta do was ta trigger tha order ya'd written into their minds and their own body betrayed them."

It must have been horrible.

To realize what they were about to do and to be absolutely helpless.

He staggered for a second when she trashed again in an attempt to break loose, but steadied himself quickly, biting his cheek to fight back the dizziness.

 _'_ _Damn, Kudou – get yar ass over here already.'_

"Post hypnotic suggestion. Ta plant a command in their sub consciousness ta make them kill themselves at any given time of yar choice if tha suggestion is triggered. And tha trigger can be anythin'. A certain time, a habit, a picture and, most efficiently - spoken words. I'm sure that is how ya got yar alibis as well and that's why ya couldn't tell us right away. Ya needed time ta prepare tha men who were supposed ta back ya up."

"You think I could do that?" she laughed. "You think too highly of me."

"Ya can play innocent if ya like, but I've talked ta someone ya should know very well. Does tha name Kimura Ren ring any bells?"

Her startled look was answer enough for him.

"Ya've been a student for psychology at Tokyo University, even always in tha top five of yar year. A promising career lay ahead of ya. Then ya had to drop out, because they suspected ya've abused medications meant for a medical trial. No one knew what ya did after that."

Arisawa's eyes narrowed. "They kicked me out without having any proof," she spat out. "I never did anything wrong, it was all because the male students were jealous of my success and they framed me. It was all set up to get rid of the competition."

"And that's were Saitama Chuuya and Endo Isamu come into play. They were two of those students, right? I bet ya have a list with names from tha men who framed ya. Do ya plan ta kill them all?"

"They ruined my life!" she shrieked. "Of course I want revenge! Do you have any idea how hard it was to realize that no one would hire me because of the rumors? Do you think I'm an escort by _choice_? I _hate_ this!"

She spit in Heiji's face and used the short distraction to bite into his left arm until she tasted blood. With a pained shout, his grip loosened and in an instant, she shoved him off and was on her feet. In a swift motion, she pulled a stun-gun out from behind the cushions on the couch.

That moment, the door burst open and Shinichi ran into the room, his phone still in his hand and connected to Hakuba. "Hattori!"

Arisawa looked panicked from the man blocking the door to the Detective who knelt next to the couch with a slightly disoriented look on his face. She grinned. That was her way out.

With a quick step, she was at Heiji's side, covered his eyes with one hand, snapped her fingers and gave her command.

"Sleep!"

Like a puppet with cut strings, Heiji folded forward and fell to the floor.

"Hattori!" Shinichi shouted again. "What the hell have you done to him, Arisawa?" He raised his phone to his ear and frantically gave instructions. "Hakuba-san, what takes so long? We need the backup! And an ambulance! Now!"

Arisawa chuckled. "Your friend here refused to let me hypnotize him like the others. If he had done so, he would have left my apartment with absolute no recollection of this night. So, I had to use something else." She hiked her shoulders as if it hadn't been her fault, as if Heiji had forced her hand.

"Instant hypnosis," Shinichi breathed shocked. "This shouldn't be possible, he didn't agree to do this."

"That's right, but it doesn't matter, or do you think the others knowingly agreed? But a brain, befuddled from drugs is much easier to invade." She glanced to Heiji and snapped her fingers again. "Stand up!" And he did.

Her smile was so false, Shinichi's stomach turned. "It seems he drank at least enough from the drug to be effected. That's all I need as an opening into his mind. He will do whatever I tell him now. Wanna see?" She put the stun-gun in Heiji's hand and firmly closed his fingers around it.

Snap. "Attack him!"

Without any visible sign of recognition, Heiji looked at Shinichi and then took off in a sprint.

"Don't! Stop – Agh…" Shinichi dove out of the way at the last moment, avoiding the sparking gun by hairsbreadth. Instead, he tumbled over a small side table that fell with him and the vase on it smashed on the ground. Shards flew everywhere and a few caught his arms he had raised in front of his face protectively.

"Dammit, Hattori! Snap out of it!"

Out of the corner of his eyes, he registered how Arisawa used the commotion to flee, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was too occupied to fend off his friend, who repeatedly tried to hit or stun him. He could just hope that Hakuba was already there to stop her.

Thankfully, Heiji didn't seem to be at his best right now. Be it the hypnosis or the drug, but whatever it was, it slowed his attacks down and messed with his aim so that Shinichi, after some rolls to the side, got the chance to get back to his feet again.

Now that he had a second to recollect himself, he wondered what he should do to end this. When would the command be fulfilled? When Heiji landed a hit on him or not until Shinichi was out cold on the ground? He didn't think that his friend would be susceptible for reason at the moment, so talking him out of it was no option.

He had to forcefully break the hypnosis.

But to manage that, he had to get close to Heiji and that wasn't really appealing, seeing that the young Detective didn't pull his punches.

He gathered his resolve. "Sorry, Hattori. I really don't want to do that."

This time, when Heiji attacked him, Shinichi stood his ground. He blocked the stun-gun that aimed for his side and gripped the wrist holding it, but couldn't avoid the fist to his face. His head flew back with a grunt, while he stubbornly held onto Heiji's other hand, pulling him along to the ground when he tumbled back.

They rolled over the floor in a mess of arms and legs, both trying to gain the upper hand, when suddenly the stun-gun was stuck between their stomachs.

Shinichi didn't think twice about it but reached for Heiji's hand and triggered the gun.

With pained outcries, both of them recoiled from the sparking device and its biting electricity that flashed in shockwaves through their bodies.

It lasted just a few seconds then it was silent in the room, aside from Shinichi's heavy panting as he tried to get back up but failed because his limbs didn't want to obey him.

So, he was still lying on the floor when a moment later, Hakuba stormed through the door, trailed by two armed officers and a paramedic.

"Hattori-keiji! Kudou-san!"

Shinichi waved weakly at him. "I'm okay, check Hattori. I think he took the brunt of it."

Hakuba nodded shortly and the paramedic knelt next to the unconscious Detective to check his vital signs, while he himself helped Shinichi into a seated position.

"What the heck happened here, Kudou-san? You two fought?"

"Yes, exactly that, Hakuba-san," Shinichi answered wearily. Now that his muscles gradually relaxed again, his body felt heavy and the cuts on his arms began to sting. His fingers where still trembling and he decided that he should wait a bit longer before trying to stand up.

"Arisawa managed to drug him, though not as effective as she had planned. She took advantage of his weakened state and initiated an instant hypnosis instead."

"Hypnosis?" With a grim expression, Hakuba watched how a second paramedic brought a stretcher and Heiji was lifted onto it, to be carried to the ambulance. They would have to wait until he woke up to be sure that the hypnosis was broken, but normally that shouldn't be a problem.

"Yeah - We'll have to ask Hattori for the details later. What about Arisawa?"

Hakuba turned his head back to Shinichi. "Oh, yes - don't worry. We got her when she was running out of the house. She was furious, but laughed at the same time that you both got what you deserved." A shiver ran down his spine. That woman had killed three persons already and he had been afraid that they had to add two more victims to that list after hearing her spiteful words.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. "You got a nice bruise there, Kudou-san," he said while looking the other over to see the extent of his injuries.

Shinichi grimaced and reached for his throbbing head. It would look even worse tomorrow. He was sure that Heiji wouldn't be pleased when he learned what happened while he had been under hypnosis. "Yeah – Hattori packs quite a punch, even in a drugged state."

"Just rest for a moment. I will go and see if Hattori-keiji is already settled in the ambulance and send one of the paramedics back to you."

With that, Hakuba left Shinichi sitting on the floor, leaned against the couch, from where he watched how the officers searched the apartment and answered their questions.

They found several small weapons hidden all over the room, just like Arisawa had told them on their first visit. Another stun-gun, pepper-spray, knives and even a handgun. Shinichi was just glad that the handgun hadn't been near Arisawa when she had needed a weapon. That could have turned out fatal.

Hakuba came back with a paramedic in tow, when one officer brought a case with small bottles in it. They looked exactly like the aphrodisiac, Arisawa had given to Shinichi but next to it lay a few syringes with a clear liquid in it. One of them was empty.

Hakuba carefully took one out with gloved hands to read the small label on it.

"Benzodiazepine. Also known as Rohypnol, roofies or knockout drops. Quite potent. It takes effect quickly, even in small dosages and degrades just as fast. No wonder it didn't show on the tox-screen." He handed the case back to the officer, who packed it up in an evidence bag.

Shinichi winced when the paramedic disinfected the cuts on his arms before bandaging them. The effects of the stun-gun had ceased enough by now that he got up with a steadying hand from Hakuba when his legs wobbled a bit. His body would be sore the next few days – just great.

* * *

 **TBC**


	5. Five

**Chapter five**  
o-oOo-o  
 _Thursday, 5:30 am_

* * *

When morning dawned, Shinichi was completely exhausted.

They had spent a good part of the night with interrogations, paperwork and more interrogations before they had called it quits. Without a key he couldn't go to Heiji's empty house, as Kazuha was surely already at the hospital with her husband. So he had stayed in the Police Department and pulled an all-nighter. Wasn't his first and wouldn't be his last and he got a good deal of work out of the way.

Endo Isamu was still under psychological care as they weren't sure yet that he wouldn't harm himself if left to his own devices.

Heiji had been kept in the hospital for the night for observation. He had woken up when he'd been still in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and had demanded to be brought to the Police Department. Hakuba, who had accompanied him, had denied that vehemently, much to Heiji's chagrin. After the ensuing bantering, they could at least be sure that the hypnosis was broken.

In Hakuba's opinion it was a stupid decision that Shinichi had refused to go to the hospital for a checkup, under the pretext that someone in charge should be at the department and that Hakuba hadn't been in the thick of it.

Shinichi had also asked him not to tell Heiji too much about their fight. He wanted to do that himself and maybe gloss over some details, so his friend wouldn't feel too bad about it.

He expected him back any minute now, because Hakuba had informed him that Heiji had been released (after he had pestered the doctors until they had nearly kicked him out) and that they were on their way back.

Sure enough, he didn't have to wait long and the coffee in the three styrofoam cups was still scalding hot when Heiji marched into his office.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Shinichi sitting in front of his desk with dark circles under his eyes and a bruise covering his left cheek and temple.

"Ya look like hell, Kudou."

Shinichi snorted. "I don't want to hear that from you, Hattori. I wasn't the one in the hospital."

He looked Heiji over. He seemed tired and his movements were a little stiff. Shinichi felt with him as his own body was sore all over as well. But still…

"What did you think, running off like that? I could have helped you!"

Heiji shook his head and unceremoniously flopped down into his chair. "No, I needed ya ta check on Endo-san. I didn't want ta risk another victim. What if I had been wrong? When I sent ya off, it was just a hunch. Well, a very good hunch, but I still wasn't sure. What if neither Haruki nor Arisawa were tha culprit or if they had any means ta get ta their victim despite an officer bein' around?"

"Alright, I get it," Shinichi sighed. He propped up his head with one hand, only to wince when he put too much pressure on the bruise, he briefly had forgotten he had there.

"Did I do that?" Heiji asked uneasily.

"Huh? Oh, well – yeah, but don't worry about it, it's nothing big. I'm fine and it's not your fault anyway." He was just glad that the long sleeves of his blazer hid his bandaged arms. He didn't want Heiji to feel guilty for something that had been out of his control.

"I'm still sorry," his friend apologized. "I just remember bits and pieces about what happened after she snapped her fingers before my eyes. Next thin' I know is that I woke up in tha ambulance."

Not knowing what exactly had happened while he had been under Arisawa's influence frightened Heiji to some extent. When he thought back to how he attacked Shinichi, he just got some blurry images and he recalled an inner compulsion that forced him to obey no matter what. He felt miserable for hurting his friend and he wondered if he could have done anything about it - if he could have fought back somehow.

"So, we got a full confession from Arisawa?" he asked, taking one of the coffee cups and shoving these thoughts aside for now. He could brood later over something he couldn't change.

"Yes," Shinichi answered and handed him a thick file. "We also called Kimura-sensei to give an official statement. He was apologizing again and again for not thinking of it sooner. After you called him yesterday, he spoke with a colleague from back then, who remembered about the incident with Arisawa."

"Yeah, he told me as much on tha phone as well. I'm just glad he called in time for us ta act or she might have gotten away. I think I know tha overall method she used, but did she explain?"

Shinichi bit back a yawn and tried to get more comfortable in his chair. As soon as he was done here, he would hole up in bed and stay there for at least the rest of the day.

"Well, the whole thing started with her being framed by some guys in college as you already know. She still declares that she was innocent and after looking over the case files, I even believe her. She had no record for misuse of drugs and absolutely no reason to change that. Quite the contrary – she wanted to publish a new theory, she had been working on for years. Interestingly, Saitama-san's most recent work – the one he discussed with Kimura-sensei - is almost identical to hers. He most likely stole it from her."

"Asshole," Heiji huffed. "So much for being a model student."

Shinichi smiled a bit wryly. "I agree on that. Anyway, after she had been expelled, she couldn't get a job as psychiatrist and ended up working as an escort. With her looks, she could choose whom she accepted as customer, but still despised it.

"In the beginning she just worked legally, but soon realized that the big money came with some… extra services. She was disgusted with the thought of sleeping with men for money and came up with the aphrodisiac. She mixed it with benzodiazepine and used the high state of her clients to lead them to believe that she had done it with them."

Heiji whistled. "So, she never really slept with any of tha guys?"

"No, in fact that was the reason why Himeragi got violent against her. He somehow suspected what was going on and didn't want to drink the aphrodisiac. When she then refused to have sex with him, he got a bit rough and she kicked him out. Same with Tatsuda.

"Then Saitama left his former escort Haruki, because he noticed that she was a bit too invested in him and went to a different one. As chance would have it, he landed at Arisawa's doorstep. Too bad for him he didn't recognize her as the female student he had framed, or maybe all this wouldn't have happened."

"Wait – he framed her, ruined her career _and_ stole her work and still didn't realize who she was?" Heiji was speechless. The guy really had it coming. Not that murder was the right solution, but he could somewhat understand why Arisawa had gone berserk.

Shinichi nodded. "He wasn't only a straight-A student, but also a smug prick who didn't give a damn about others, especially women. He just used them for his enjoyment. Arisawa saw her chance for revenge and began to plan how she would take him out. She remembered Himeragi and Tatsuda and decided to use them as guinea-pigs for she feared that they would talk about her little trick with the rohypnol. Luring them back under the pretense of remorse and wanting to sleep with them for real was easy enough."

The men's egos must have been bursting when she came back crawling and asked for forgiveness. Most likely she had used the coffee-trick for them just like with Heiji, because they wouldn't have taken the aphrodisiac after knowing what it did to them.

"When they were drugged, she used her knowledge about post hypnotic suggestion to plant a command into their minds. Actually, different layers of commands. The first made them go to the hardware-shop to buy the tools themselves. It's not far from Arisawa's apartment so she knew it quite well. The trigger was the shop-sign and she made sure they would pass the shop on their way home. Once back at their home, the next command was to leave the door ajar and start the computer. The address to the little website she had built was ingrained into their minds too, so that it would be the page they opened as soon as the computer had booted up. After that, the recorded voice that accompanied the pop-ups worked as trigger. First to keep trying to close the window and the last sentence made them cut their own throat. Different from instant hypnosis, which Arisawa used on you, the victim would be aware of what they did during all the time, but couldn't stop it."

Endo had frantically tried to get home, because the command told him so. If they hadn't stopped him at the store, he would have killed himself that night.

He also had switched from Haruki to Arisawa, after Saitama had told him that Haruki wasn't quite right in the head. Essentially, he did whatever Saitama asked of him. A typical brainless follower, who somewhat worshiped his senpai. If he hadn't, Arisawa wouldn't have found him so fast.

Shinichi finished the rest of the explanation, he had gotten from Arisawa last night. She had known the addresses of her victims and had followed them after she could be sure that they were home. Then she would check through the door if they had already killed themselfves and enter the apartment to 'paint the walls with their sins' as she had called it. Shinichi was quite sure that the woman needed a good shrink herself by now. When she was done, she locked the door with a spare key. All she had needed was to ask were it was hidden when she had her victims under hypnosis.

So Arisawa would be locked away for a very long time. The method she had used was horrible and aside from the murders, she had also drugged and manipulated a Police Detective and attempted to kill a consultant.

Heiji suddenly was thankful that Arisawa had used instant hypnosis instead of her usual method on him. The thought of being fully conscious while attacking his best friend and still being forced to follow through would have certainly taken a toll on him. (He later learned about the handgun in the room and his gratefulness increased tenfold. A bruise would heal easily, a gunshot wound not so much.)

"Thanks, Kudou. For bringin' me out of it."

"Sure thing, Hattori," Shinichi smiled. "You would do the same for me."

"Ha, of course! If ya're in need of a beatin', call me anytime," Heiji joked.

"Yeah – though you'll have to compete with Ran over that honor. She's always making sure that I don't forget that she was the captain of the karate team for a reason if need be."

Speaking of Ran. He hoped the bruise and cuts would be mostly gone when she came back in a week or she would start to fuss over him all day and he didn't want to worry her again.

"Good to see that you are so lively in here," came Hakuba's voice from the door. The night showed on his face as well, but he hid it behind British dignity and stoic calmness.

"Kudou-san, you should head home and rest properly. The case is closed and as you can see, the hot-headed Detective is fine as well, so no reason to stay here any longer. The remaining paperwork can be done later and I'm sure you still feel the aftermath of the electroshocks. I will-"

"Wait-" Heiji interrupted and Shinichi winced. So much for glossing things over. He had hoped to hide that fact just like the cuts on his arms.

 _'Thank's for nothing, Hakuba,'_ he glared at the Brit, who just shrugged unimpressed.

"Ya got shocked too? How? Why didn't ya tell me and why are ya in tha Department then? Why weren't ya at tha hospital?"

"Well," Sheepishly rubbing his neck, Shinichi looked to the side. "I had to break you out of the hypnosis and while we fought, the stun-gun got stuck between us somehow and I just triggered it without thinking. And someone had to be here for the interrogation."

When he saw Heiji's unbelieving face, he waved his hands in reassurance. "But I'm fine, really. I didn't get much of a shock anyway."

Hakuba harrumphed. "Yes, sure."

Heiji now had enough of it. He stood up, rounded the desk and leaned down to Shinichi, trapping him in his chair between his arms.

"Ya're an idiot! I knew ya've been hurt since I've entered tha room. And I'm not speakin' about tha bruise. Ya think I didn't notice how ya're rubbin' yar arms all tha time? Sleeves up!"

He did that? Huh. Shinichi hadn't even noticed himself, but the bandages _were_ kind of itchy. With a defeated sigh, he obeyed.

Heiji's eyes narrowed and his mouth thinned as he bit his lips in displeasure. "Shinichi! Home - now!"

The usage of his given name brought across that he really meant it. Even though they knew each other for years now and were as close as brothers, they had stuck with the habit of calling the other by last name. Only in certain situations they would change to the more intimate addressing.

He then turned to Hakuba. "And here I thought ya were a voice of reason. Why did ya let him work tha whole night?"

With his arms crossed before his chest, Hakuba looked back, challenging. "How was I supposed to know he wouldn't go home? Am I his nanny? I did tell him to get medical treatment, but he is just as stubborn as you and what should I have done? Knock him out and drag him there?"

Shinichi was aware that Heiji's angry behavior was mostly just worry and some parts guilt and when Hakuba was ordered to drive him back to Heiji's house, he went without trying to discuss. He would have gone soon anyway as he was ready to drop right there and then.

When a suprised Kazuha let him in, he just gave her a short rundown and she was on her way to the Department to chew out her husband for not telling her right away that he had been hurt. Apparently, Heiji had just sent her a text, saying that he wouldn't be back for the night.

Why he had thought that was a bright idea, Shinichi had no clue. He probably just had wanted to have a good night's sleep before facing Kazuha's scolding for being careless.

 _'Well, seems like you're not much better than me, Hattori.'_

Shinichi shrugged the thought off, trudged up the stairs to the guestroom and was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

o-oOo-o

"I told ya, I had ta work, woman!"

A grumpy voice woke him from his slumber. Still tired, Shinichi turned to check the time. He had slept for ten hours straight and after carefully stretching his muscles, he could say that he felt a lot better.

"Sshh! Ya'll wake Kudou-kun, ya maroon!"

 _'Too late, but I should get up anyway to eat something.'_ His stomach grumbled in accordance as he hadn't had anything else than the coffee in the morning.

He got up and changed out of the wrinkled clothes he hadn't bothered to take off before going to bed, and went to the bathroom to splash some water in his face. When he came down the stairs, he prepared himself to walk into another argument between Heiji and Kazuha, but actually, the two of them sat in the living room, cuddling on the sofa.

"Hey," he greeted a bit awkwardly.

Kazuha turned to him, startled and gave Heiji a slap on the shoulder. "See? Told ya so!" Then she perked up. "Kudou-kun, slept well? Are ya hungry? Ya must be hungry. I'll fix ya somethin'. It'll take just a minute."

And with that she was up without waiting for an answer and disappeared into the kitchen where they could hear her clattering with some utensils shortly after.

Heiji eyed him sternly. "So, how are ya? And don't try to hide anythin' again, I know everythin' from Hakuba now. Though I had ta order him ta tell me, 'cause apparently, ya told him ta keep mum. Since when are ya keepin' things from me, Kudou?"

Shinichi let out a surprised snort. "Who are you? My father? I think you know quite well why I didn't tell you right away. And shouldn't I be the one asking about _your_ well-being? You have been the one drugged, hypnotized and passed out after getting an electric shock. I think I have the right to worry a bit about you," he counted on his fingers.

Heiji groaned. "Don't try ta turn this on me. I _have_ been ta tha hospital and got tha all-clear. Look - I really appreciate yar concern and I can totally understand, but ya know damn well that I'm not someone ta turn a blind eye ta things that happened and I always take responsibility for what I do. Somethin' like this won't bring me down, ya don't have ta protect me from tha truth. Though - being used as a weapon against yar own best friend really sucks."

Letting himself slump into an arm chair, Shinichi chuckled, relieved that Heiji was just - well, Heiji. "I bet." Then he sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Heiji waved off, always fast to forgive. The case was over, the culprit caught and they both more or less unharmed. That was all that counted. Well – aside from...

"Hattori, did you hear something regarding your promotion?"

Heiji squirmed a bit in his seat. Trust Shinichi to come straight to the point.

"Well, there won't be a promotion this time. I decided that myself."

He didn't think that his superiors would have made him Inspector anyway, not after how this case had went, but before they could even discuss the matter, he had went there and humbly had asked for another chance next year.

The case might be over and the culprit behind bars, but he had made mistakes. Mistakes an Inspector couldn't afford to make. He wanted to be sure that he deserved it, that he was at his best when he got this position. Until then, he would continue to work on himself.

Shinichi watched his friend. Really - Heiji wasn't any longer the rash teen he had met as Conan. He had matured a lot over time. Sure, he still made decisions on the fly, but now he knew that this trait wasn't always an advantage.

"So, that means you're free next week to pay us a visit? Ran would be thrilled to have you and Kazuha over. She will be back on Thursday."

Heiji gave him a knowing smirk. "Ya just don't want ta be alone with her when she learns about yar latest stunt, ya coward."

"Have you met my wife?" Shinichi asked in a dry tone that made Heiji laugh out. As nice and good-hearted as Ran might be, his friend had a point. When she put her foot down, she was downright scary.

"Alright, pal, I'll see that I can get a short vacation after everythin' for this case is wrapped up. If I remember right, ya promised me a restaurant tour, right? I assume ya're buyin'?" He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

Shinichi groaned. He had no problem with inviting his friend now and then, but a whole tour through Tokyo's food-stalls and more fancy restaurants would burn a hole in his wallet.

Well, if it distracted Ran from worrying, it was totally worth it.

And he certainly couldn't complain about Heiji being bad company when they were out together. He just hoped that no-one would try to food-poison anyone while they were around.

They really had enough excitement and trouble for this month.

o-oOo-o  
The End  
o-oOo-o

* * *

 **A.N:** I know that hypnosis is normally only possible when the person that is to be hypnotized is in agreement with the orders given. I have no idea how the usage of drugs influences that, but for my story I let Arisawa take full control over her victims. Thanks for reading and if you would consider to drop me a review, it would be much appreciated.


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